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Bebop Spoken There

Buddy Guy: "My mother said, 'You got flowers for me, give 'em to me now, because I'm not going to smell them when you put 'em on the casket'." -(DownBeat September 2018).

Marty Ashby: "I asked him what his gig was and he said 'I put the scores on the music stands'. I said, 'That's a gig?' And I realised there were four floors of guys like him, who supported some of the finest musicians in the world. But I was a jazz musician, and I was used to playing with some of the finest musicians in the world in front of the New York Public Library for tips. That's when I realised that jazz didn't have the same support system as classical music.- (DownBeat September 2018).

Today Tuesday August 14

To the best of our knowledge, details of the above events are correct but may be subject to alteration.

Wednesday, May 16, 2018

Jazz Café Jam Session - May 15

(Review by Lance).

Once again, the Jazz Café jam session lived up to expectations - when does it not? The signs were good from the start. In Edis and Walker, we had two-thirds of Triptych on stage although there was little of that band's contemporary leanings present. Instead, with Grainger as the lynchpin, it was straight down the middle swing even if Falling in Love With Love did start off in waltz-time. You'd be so Nice to Come Home to had set the ball rolling but it was the filling in the sandwich that brought the house down. Take the A Train left the platform slower than is the norm and it looked like we were taking the scenic route until Edis refueled with an amazing left-hand tremolo that seemed to last from Penn Station to Sugar Hill way up in Harlem. His right hand wasn't idle either! Showboating, I know, but nonetheless impressive!

The first of the sitters-in was trumpet man Johnson who opened up with a Lee Morgan tune I didn't recognise and a Clifford Brown one which I did - Joyspring.

Johnson gave way, he would be back, to student duo Richardson and Savage both of whom are giving their Final Year Undergraduate Music Recital later this week. For Megan this was, I suppose, testing the water. If the judgment was to be in the form of a clapometer then start printing the certificate now making sure the H is in capitals. Her chosen test pieces were Sinead O'Connor's My Man is Gone and Prince's How Come You Don't Call me Anymore? Two very emotive pieces done here as a kind of jazz lieder.

We needed cheering up after all our lost loves had flashed by in a drowning man scenario and we got it in the form of Garel, Sykes, Pope and Mohammed. Richardson stayed at the piano as he too surely needed to shake off the depression Megan had so effectively, and brilliantly, created. Unless the examiners are going through some emotional crisis of their own the girl should walk it!

Old man sorrow was kicked out the door when Garel and Sykes blew a lively, boppy number and followed up with that perennial fave; Have You Met Miss Jones? - I think we will go on meeting her till we die, Miss Jones and I (I'm not complaining, even at 81 she's still tasty!)

Edis and Walker returned to accompany Ms. O'Neill whom we've also met several times. Kate gave us her take on Cry me a River which included a scat chorus and a frenetic finale. Always a showstopper. I Wish I Knew How it Feels to be Free concluded her set. We'd hoped she'd hang around to sing again but, when the call went out, Kate had gone.

It's usually a night to remember when Nick Gould lugs his tenor down from Edinburgh and this night was ne'er an exception.

You Stepped Out of a Dream (or was it a '62 Cortina?) - think Hank Mobley/Joe Henderson and you've got it! A Weaver of Dreams (was that a request? I wonder...) a nice tenor/bass interlude with Paul Grainger added some extra spice. Even more spice was added when Paul Gowland arrived with soprano sax to give Yardbird Suite a workout. Tenor and sop gelled.

Mohammed back on drums and a southpaw guitarist whose name I didn't catch - maybe it wasn't given - so we'll call him "Les" as he was playing an Epiphone Les Paul guitar.* He found his way around Tangerine as did Gowland. With Edis and Grainger that made four Pauls in total. If someone had said, "Take the next one Paul" it could have resulted in a bemused silence or a four-part fugue.

Trombone at The Caff usually means David Gray but 'Showtime' wasn't around. Instead, a new face appeared, Tom McDonald. Tom made an impressive debut blowing All of Me alongside big hitters Gould and Johnson. Tom hung around for Four, Paul Gowland returned and longtime absentee Matt MacKellar took over on drums. Mobley's This I Dig of You showed young Matt had lost none of his prowess on drums with an explosive solo.

As I left to take a train, Coltrane's Mr PC was a fitting finale. Originally dedicated to bassist Paul Chambers, we now had the fifth Paul - there's not that many in The Bible (I'm told!)

1 comment
:

Ah - Weaver of Dreams ........ I have to confess that I requested this one! I'd been chatting to Nick at the bar, talking about tunes - and I happened to ask about it! He did play it beautifully! And it's not one that we hear very often at the JC.

About this blog - contact details.

Bebop Spoken Here -- Here, being the north-east of England -- centred in the blues heartland of Newcastle and reaching down to the Tees Delta and looking upwards to the Land of the Kilt.Not a very original title, I know; not even an accurate one as my taste, whilst centred around the music of Bird and Diz, extends in many directions and I listen to everything from King Oliver to Chick Corea and beyond. Not forgetting the Great American Songbook the contents of which has provided the inspiration for much great jazz and quality popular singing for round about a century.The idea of this blog is for you to share your thoughts and pass on your comments on discs, gigs, jazz - music in general. If you've been to a gig/concert or heard a CD that knocked you sideways please share your views with us. Tell us about your favourites, your memories, your dislikes.Lance (Who wishes it to be known that he is not responsible for postings other than his own and that he's not always responsible for them.)

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